A proposal has been released to open up the Montauk Cutoff, a short abandoned rail line of Long Island City, to the public as a haven of urban wilderness. Brooklyn Grange and Bang Studio released the plan, dubbed the Wild Line, with an intent to "transform the Long Island City community by injecting a new sense of life: creating new kinds of habitat for animals, humans, birds, insects, and microorganisms."
The plan revolves around three guiding principals. The first is to "create a gradient of wilderness" in which the Wild Line becomes more wild as it moves from north to south. The second is to leave the Smiling Hogshead Ranch, a community garden that’s located by the north end of the tracks, in tact so as to co-exist as a neighbor to the Wild Line. Finally, they envision controlled public access from three different access points. The southern end will hold a wildlife preserve totally off limits to the public.
Sounds fun. How many millions of taxpayer dollars will end up being funneled into this?
13 comments:
Another dingbat hipster idea with visions of the High Line dancing in their vacuous skulls that'll cost a fortune and be endorsed by our equally intelligence challenged elected officials.
Hipsters won't be able to turn Queens into Brooklyn's Park Slope. Keep trying but it will not happen.
A habitat for micro-organisms? I thought my drain pipe was that.
Someone's pet Zika breeding ground?
Is someone nostalgic for West Nile?
Of course it will have some politicians name splashed all across it.
If it's abandoned, isn't it already a wildlife refugee? Plants grow unhindered, animals run around unchecked.
Where the wildlife coming from?
Turn it into natural park where people can walk around enjoy and relax.
We already have an abandoned rail line in Queens that's full of wildlife and should be kept as such-- the proposed Queensway. I've personally seen a coyote in there, red-tailed hawks, an eagle (once), many other birds, squirrels of course, possums, raccoons, many butterflies, and tall mature trees-- it's lovely. It should not be destroyed to satisfy a few bicyclers who will lose interest after a ride or two. It doesn't need to be developed into anything other than what it is-- a wildlife refuge.
Is there no idea that some on this forum can't oppose? It's abandoned and going to no good public or private use. Why not clean out the trash, plant it, and open to the public?
This pretentious art collective and this city care more about vegetation and animals than the people that live and work here.
What does Lizzy think about this creative invasion from brooklyn in contrast to her commuter plan for the line?
Its like the million dollar ferry boats and bike lanes boondoggles for them ... and broken up streets for your Queens neighborhood and overcrowded Queens schools for your children and your 90 year old father dying in a 24 hour bed in a Queens ER.
The developers have made zombies out of our elected officials and are sucking our taxes out of our communities into their development projects and all the cutesy incentives for Buffy and Biff to live in for a decade ... before their transition to brownfield barracks for Maria and Jose after said developer harvests their profits.
Next question?
This is actually just one of a few proposals to convert these tracks into recreational use. There's a far better plan that has stronger community backing, though why it isn't being publicized is beyond me.
The idea from the mta is simple: lease it to a group who will be a responsible caretaker and make sure it doesn't become a trash dump.
To reuse it for rail, all of the bridges and overpasses would have to be repaired. The mta has no money for that (and no need, since there are no trains running on it). Bear that in mind when you hear dizzy lizzy talk about how cheap and easy it would be to reuse this route for light rail.
What kind of animals do they have in mind? Why not inhabit it with the animals from Rikers Island? This is such a dumb idea!
Brownfield remediation? Naaaah, Just turn it into a "reserve" thats the ticket! No work but somehow costs lots of money, perfect for Queens.
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